Adaptive streaming using chunked time-to-offset mapping

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided herein relating to adaptive video streaming. Time-to-offset mapping associated with a set of video blocks can be broken up into chunks. A client can download a first set of seek index chunks and use the first set of seek index chunks to select a stream. Seek index chunks within remaining sets of seek index chunks can be ranked for relevance based on client capabilities. A subset of remaining sets of seeks index chunks can be downloaded based on the rankings and client capabilities during streaming. Chunked time-to-offset mapping can facilitate faster startup when playing streamed video.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of and claims the benefit of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/484,150, entitled “Adaptive Streaming UsingChunked Time-to-Offset Mapping” filed on May 30, 2012, which claims thebenefit of U.S. provisional application 61/588,140, entitled “AdaptiveStreaming Using Chunked Time-to-Offset Mapping” filed on Jan. 28, 2012,each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in therespective entirety of each.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to adaptive video streaming, and moreparticularly to using a chunked time-to-offset mapping to reducestreaming startup/load times.

BACKGROUND

Videos hosted on the internet can be viewed on many commerciallyavailable electronic devices such as smart phones, tablets, e-readers,computers, personal digital assistants, personal media players, etc. Oneway to view a video is download the entirety of a video file and oncecomplete, view the video file using video playing software installed onthe electronic device. For long videos or high definition videos,downloading an entire video file can be time consuming and significantlydelay a user from beginning to watch the video. One way to begin viewingthe video without having to first download the entire video is throughvideo streaming. In video streaming, portions of the video file can beprovided piecemeal allowing the end user to begin playback of the videoprior to having downloaded the entire video.

One method of video streaming is adaptive streaming. Adaptive streamingis a technique that can detect a user's connection speed to theinternet, an available bandwidth, or CPU capacity and use thosemeasurements to select the highest quality video stream that the user iscapable of playing. One way to provide adaptive streaming is to hostmultiple video files of the same video that are capable of streaming,where the files are encoded using different bit rates, different framerates, different resolutions, etc. A server or client device can thenselect the appropriate video file to stream based on the client. Inaddition, throughout playback of the video, if a user's connection speedfor example changes, adaptive streaming provides for changing the streamthe user is viewing to provide seamless playback under changingconditions. Thus, it can be important to know the bandwidth required forsuccessful playback of each of the multiple video files prior toinitially selecting a stream or during playback when switching streamsunder changing conditions.

A time-to-offset mapping, also known as a seek index, is typically usedto identify seek points for a media file. In an adaptive streamingsystem, the time-to-offset mapping may also be used to facilitateswitching seamlessly between different media files or streams associatedwith the same video. Typically, the time-to-offset mapping is part of amedia file, located at the beginning or end of the media file.Conventionally, a client waits for a seek index to be fully downloadedbefore starting video play. In an adaptive streaming system, in whichmultiple media files are associated with a single video, waiting for allseek indices to be fully downloaded before starting video play canincrease startup time associated with playing the video significantly.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of the specification inorder to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of thespecification. This summary is not an extensive overview of thespecification. It is intended to neither identify key or criticalelements of the specification nor delineate the scope of any particularembodiments of the specification, or any scope of the claims. Its solepurpose is to present some concepts of the specification in a simplifiedform as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented inthis disclosure.

Systems and methods disclosed herein relate to adaptive streaming. Areceiving component can receive a first set of seek index chunksassociated with a first set of video blocks, wherein the video blocksare encoded with different video characteristics. A streaming componentcan dynamically select to stream one of the video blocks among the firstset of video blocks as a function of the first set of seek index chunksand client capabilities. A ranking component can rank index chunkswithin a second set of seek index chunks for relevance based on theclient capabilities, wherein the receiving component can receive asubset of the second set of seek index chunks, during streaming, as afunction of the ranking.

The following description and the drawings set forth certainillustrative aspects of the specification. These aspects are indicative,however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of thespecification may be employed. Other advantages and novel features ofthe specification will become apparent from the following detaileddescription of the specification when considered in conjunction with thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example flow diagram of adaptive streaming;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example flow diagram of adaptive streamingincluding downloading time-to-offset mapping in chunks in accordancewith implementations of this disclosure;

FIG. 3A illustrates a chart depicting example download times of setupdata for the media referred to in FIG. 4C;

FIG. 3B illustrates a chart depicting example download times of setupdata for the media referred to in FIG. 5B in accordance withimplementations of this disclosure;

FIG. 4A is a graphical representation of elements of an illustrativemanifest;

FIG. 4B depicts a sample manifest in XML format consistent with theformat described with respect to FIG. 4A;

FIG. 4C depicts another sample manifest in XML format consistent withthe format described with respect to FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5A a graphical representation of elements of an illustrativemanifest in accordance with an implementation of this disclosure;

FIG. 5B depicts a sample manifest in XML format consistent with theformat described with respect to FIG. 5A;

FIG. 5C depicts the sample manifest of FIG. 5B, but with specificelements highlighted for ease of description;

FIG. 5D depicts the sample manifest of FIG. 5B, but with specificelements highlighted for ease of description;

FIG. 6 illustrates a high-level functional block diagram of an examplesystem using chunked time-to-offset mapping in adaptive streaming inaccordance with implementations of this disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a high-level functional block diagram of an examplesystem using chunked time-to-offset mapping in adaptive streamingincluding a monitoring component in accordance with implementations ofthis disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example flow diagram method for using chunkedtime-to-offset mapping in adaptive streaming in accordance withimplementations of this disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example flow diagram method for using chunkedtime-to-offset mapping in adaptive streaming in accordance withimplementations of this disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example flow diagram method for using chunkedtime-to-offset mapping in adaptive streaming including dynamicallymonitoring client capabilities in accordance with implementations ofthis disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example flow diagram method for using chunkedtime-to-offset mapping in adaptive streaming including dynamicallyupdating ranks in accordance with implementations of this disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates an example block diagram of a computer operable toexecute the disclosed architecture in accordance with implementations ofthis disclosure; and

FIG. 13 illustrates an example schematic block diagram for a computingenvironment in accordance with implementations of this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The innovation is now described with reference to the drawings, whereinlike reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout.In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of this innovation. It may be evident, however, that theinnovation can be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagramform in order to facilitate describing the innovation.

Adaptive streaming in general provides for encoding the same videocontent in at least two different versions where the different versionsof the video are encoded with different video characteristics, such as,for example, at different bit rates. In addition to bit rate, differentvideo characteristics of the video can include different aspect ratios,different resolutions, etc. In addition to different versions of thevideo, different audio tracks are capable of being streamed thatinclude, for example, varying languages and/or varying sampling rates,etc. The server that hosts the video or the client, e.g., an electronicdevice capable of video playback, can monitor the connection speed, CPUusage, memory usage, etc. of the client in order to select a version ofthe video that both maximizes video quality and offers reliableplayback.

One adaptive streaming delivery method uses the Hyper Text TransferProtocol (“HTTP”) to send video from a server to a client for playback.Other protocols that can be used are SPDY, WebSockets, or file transferprotocol (“FTP”). It can be appreciated that different protocols can beused to perform different aspects of the disclosed system and methods.Video and audio sources can be cut into manageable segments. Themanageable segments can be the same length or alternatively can bediffering lengths that are associated with a common shared timeline. Thesegments may be determined using Group of Pictures (GOP) boundarieswhere each GOP begins with a key frame so as to have no dependencies onpast or future GOPs. A client can request manageable segmentssequentially and use HTTP, for example, to download the segments bothprior to and during streaming.

A time-to-offset mapping, or seek index, is typically used to identifyseek points for a media file. In an adaptive streaming system, thetime-to-offset mapping may also be used to facilitate switchingseamlessly between different media files or streams associated with thesame video. The adaptive streaming system can use the time-to-offsetmapping to make stream switching decisions, for example. Thetime-to-offset mapping can also be used to estimate bandwidthrequirements as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/484,112. Conventionally, a client waits for a time-to-offset mappingto be fully downloaded before starting video play. In an adaptivestreaming system, in which multiple media files are associated a singlevideo, waiting for all time-to-offset mappings to be fully downloadedbefore starting video play can increase the startup time associated withplaying the video significantly. Systems and method described hereinuses a chunked time-to-offset mapping, or chunked seek index, to reducestreaming startup/load times.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an example flow diagram ofadaptive streaming. Client 101 can be any electronic device capable ofplaying a video such as a smart phone, tablet, e-reader, computer,personal digital assistant, personal media player, etc. Client 101 cancommunicate with server 103 using HTTP, SPDY, WebSockets, FTP, etc. At102, client 101 can request video content from server 103. For example,a user of client 101 can select a video they desire to view.

At 104, Server 103 can send a video content manifest to client 101 inresponse. The video content manifest can include information associatedwith the video that client 101 requested to view at 102. The videocontent manifest can include a list of different versions of video andaudio files, streams or feeds of the video client 101 requested to view.For example, the video content manifest can include a location to fivediffering video files and two differing audio files related to the samevideo where each of the five video files can have different bit rates,resolutions, and/or aspect ratios, etc. In addition, the video contentmanifest can include time-to-offset mapping for each of the video files.The audio files can contain different sample rates, different languages,and/or different sound formats, etc. The video content manifest can alsoinclude an average total bandwidth for each media file. Each video fileidentified within the video content manifest can be broken up intomanageable segments as discussed above.

At 106, client 101 can request a first segment of the video based onclient capabilities. For example, client capabilities such as clientconnection speed, CPU usage, memory usage, power consumption, etc. canbe detected by the client and used to select a video file among a set ofvideo files that maximizes both reliability and quality. At 108, server103 can send a first segment of the video based on the client request.

During playback of the video stream, at 110, client capabilities can bemonitored. At 112, a second segment of the video can be requested byclient 101 based on the monitoring. For example, if client capabilitieschange such that the client can no longer process segments of the videowith enough speed to offer continuous playback, a lower bit rate streamcan be selected to assure that video playback is not interrupted.Alternatively, if client capabilities change such that the client hasmore bandwidth available to process a video stream, a higher bit rate orhigher quality stream can be selected to offer the client the highestquality stream they are capable of viewing. It can be appreciated thatclient 101 can dynamically select a different stream in the middle of asegment and is not required to switch streams in between segments asdepicted in FIG. 1. At 114, the server can send the second segment ofthe video based on the client request at 112.

FIG. 4A is a graphical representation of elements of an illustrativemanifest. The server 103 can provide a manifest of the form depicted tothe client 101, e.g., at 104 in FIG. 1. The manifest includes thefollowing types of elements: Presentation, MediaInterval, MediaGroup,Media, MediaHeader, and MediaIndex. In FIG. 4A, the presentation element(Presentation) is the root of the manifest. There is one presentationelement per manifest. The video requested by the client at 102 can beassociated with the presentation element.

MediaInterval elements are sub-elements of the presentation element.MediaInterval Elements are used to describe sections of the presentationtemporally. MediaInterval Elements may be ordered by their start time. AMediaInterval element can include one or more MediaGroup elements.

A MediaGroup element is a container element for one or more media files,streams or feeds that originate from the same source material. Forexample, video files with different bitrates and/or resolution would bein the same Media Group. Audio files with different sample rates and/ornumber of channels would be in the same MediaGroup. Audio files indifferent languages would be in different MediaGroups.

The Media element is a sub-element of the MediaGroup element. The Mediaelement is used to describe one media file, stream, or feed (referred toherein as a “media file” or “media stream” for convenience). While eachMediaGroup in FIG. 4A includes only one Media element for convenience, aMediaGroup can have more than one media element. In one implementation,a client can switch between media elements of a media group withoutcausing a discontinuity. A Media element can include a MediaHeaderelement and a MediaIndex element.

The MediaHeader element is used to describe setup data for the mediafile (e.g., a video file or audio file). The MediaIndex element containsinformation about a seek index for the media file. This informationincludes the time-to-byte offset map for the media file. Inimplementations of this disclosure, the Media element further contains aSeekedIndexList, as more fully described below.

FIG. 4B depicts a sample manifest in XML format consistent with theformat described with respect to FIG. 4A. In FIG. 4B, the presentationis associated with two video files (or streams) and one audio file (orstream).

FIG. 4C depicts another sample manifest in XML format consistent withthe format described with respect to FIG. 4A. In FIG. 4C, thepresentation is association with four video files (or streams) and twoaudio files (or streams).

FIG. 5A depicts a graphical representation of elements of anillustrative manifest in accordance with an implementation of thisdisclosure. In FIG. 5A, the Media element further includes aSeekIndexList element. The SeekIndexList element contains informationabout a time-to-byte-offset map for the media file described by theMedia element. The SeekIndexList includes one or more ChunkIndexelements (or IndexChunk elements). Each ChunkIndex element contains acontiguous chunk of the time-to-byte offset map.

FIG. 5B depicts a sample manifest in XML format consistent with theformat described with respect to FIG. 5A. In FIG. 5B, the videoassociated with the manifest is the same as the video associated withthe manifest of FIG. 4C. In FIG. 5B, the presentation is associationwith four video files (or streams) and two audio files (or streams).

It shall be appreciated that while the elements names above are used inthis disclosure, other names may be used to refer to the same orsimilarly functioning elements without departing from embodiments ofthis disclosure. For example, a ChunkIndex element may be referred to asan IndexChunk element, or some other name, in a different implementationand still remain within the scope of this disclosure. As anotherexample, the SeekIndexList element may be named MediaIndex, asunderstood with reference to FIG. 5B, or some other name in a differentimplementation and still remain within the scope of this disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated an example flow diagram ofadaptive streaming including downloading time-to-offset mapping inchunks in accordance with implementations of this disclosure. At 202,client 101 can request video content from server 103. At 204, Server 103can send a complete first set of seek index chunks to client 101. Forexample, the first seek index chunk for every available stream can besent to client 101 at 204. For example, referring to FIG. 5C, the indexchunks associated with the highlighted IndexChunk elements could be sentto client 101 at 204. FIG. 5C depicts the sample manifest of FIG. 5B,but with specific elements highlighted for ease of description.

At 206, client can request a first segment of a video stream based onthe first set of seek index chunks and client capabilities. For example,using the first set of index chunks, client 101 can determine thehighest quality video capable of being played by client 101 for thefirst segment of the video.

At 208, server 103 can send the first segment of the video to the clientbased on the client request at 206. During playback of the video stream,at 210, client capabilities can be monitored for changing conditions. At212, index chunks within a second set of seek index chunks can be rankedfor relevance. For example, referring to FIG. 5D, the chunks identifiedby the highlighted elements could be ranked for relevance. FIG. 5Ddepicts the sample manifest of FIG. 5B, but with specific elementshighlighted for ease of description. As another example, seek indexchunks associated with streams that have an average bandwidth that islikely never to play well on the client based on the client capabilitiescan have a lower rank than seek index chunks associated with streamsthat are more likely to be utilized by client 101. For example,referring back to FIG. 5D, the media having an id of “3” has an averagebandwidth of “1002”. If the client capabilities are such that this mediais unlikely to play well on the client because of, for example, amaximum network connection speed, the index chunk associated with“<IndexChunk start=“600.000” end=“1200.000”range=“526046457-526057257”/>” can be assigned a lower rank than otherindex chunk. The other index chunk may be, for example, an index chunkassociated with “<IndexChunk start=“600.000” end=“1200.000”range=“394827744-394838544”/>”, which is associated with the mediahaving an id of “2” and a bandwidth of “752”.

At 214, client 101 can request a subset of a second set of seek indexchunks based on the ranking at 212. For example, if at 212 the rankingdetermines that only two of five streams are likely to be used by client101 based on client capabilities, then at 214, a second set of seekindex chunks containing seek index chunks related to only two of thefive streams can be downloaded.

At 216, server 103 can send a second set of seek index chunks, whileserver 103 is streaming the first segment to client 101, based on therequest at 214. At 218, client 101 can request a second segment of thevideo based on the monitoring at 210 and the second set of seek indexchunks received at 216. At 220, server 103 can send the second segmentof the video based on the client request at 218.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, there is illustrated a chart depicting exampledownload times of setup data for the media referred to in FIG. 4C. Inthe example, there are four possible video streams and two possibleaudio streams denoted by Video 1, Video 2, Video 3, Video 4, Audio 1,and Audio 2 for ease of description. Video 1 corresponds to the mediaitem identified in the manifest of FIG. 4C as having MediaInterval id=0,MediaGroup id=0, and Media id=0. Video 2 corresponds to the media itemidentified in the manifest of FIG. 3A as having MediaInterval id=0,MediaGroup id=0, and Media id=1. Audio 1 corresponds to the media itemidentified in the manifest of FIG. 4C as having MediaInterval id=0,MediaGroup id=1, and Media id=11, and so forth.

In FIG. 3A, each file or stream has both a header (identified byMediaHeader in FIG. 4C) and a seek index (identified by MediaIndex inFIG. 4C) associated with the stream that a client downloads and uses toselect a stream. The second column in FIG. 3A lists in “Bytes” the sizeof each of the headers and seek indices that the client can download.The remaining columns are labeled based on a client connection speed andgive the estimated time to download each header and index based on thesize of the header or index and the connection speed. For example, if aclient has a connection speed of 250 Kbps, it will take about 2.473seconds to download the entirety of the seek index associated with Video1 that is 77,275 bytes. The total time to download the headers and fullseek indices associated with the four video streams and two audiostreams is over 11 seconds at a 250 Kbps connection speed. In a systemwhere a client must receive full seek indices for every video streamassociated with a presentation prior to selecting an appropriate stream,the time it takes to download a full set of seek indices can delay thestart of streaming the video.

Referring now to FIG. 3B, there is illustrated a chart depicting exampledownload times of setup data for the media referred to in FIG. 5B inaccordance with implementations of this disclosure. Recall that thevideo associated with the manifest depicted in FIG. 5B is the same asthe video associated with the manifest of FIG. 4C. In this examplechart, the same four video streams and two audio streams depicted inFIG. 3A are shown. Instead of downloading the entirety of the seek indexassociated with each stream, a first chunk of the seek index associatedwith each stream is downloaded. The size in “Bytes” associated with eachseek index chunk versus the entirety of each seek index from FIG. 3A isreadily apparent. In this example, downloading the first index chunk foreach stream reduces the required download time using a 250 Kbpsconnection speed to 1.802 seconds. Thus, in this example, a client thatdownloads chunks of seek indices can start video playback almost tenseconds sooner than a client that must download the entirety of everyseek index.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is illustrated a high-level functionalblock diagram of an example system 600 using chunked time-to-offsetmapping in adaptive streaming in accordance with implementations of thisdisclosure. A receiving component 610 can receive a first set of seekindex chunks associated with a first set of video blocks, wherein thevideo blocks are encoded with different video characteristics, e.g.,differing bit rates, resolutions, aspect ratios, width, height, and/orsample rate, etc. For example, client 600 can receive the first set ofseek index chunks from server 602 where server 602 has access to datastore 604 containing seek index chunks 606 and video blocks 608.

A streaming component 620 can dynamically select to stream one of thevideo blocks among the first set of video blocks as a function of thefirst set of seek index chunks and client capabilities. For example,client capabilities can include client connection speed, CPU usage,memory usage, or client resource monitors.

A ranking component 630 can rank index chunks within a second set ofseek index chunks for relevance based on client capabilities. Thisranking can be based on, for example, analysis of information containedin a manifest associated with the requested presentation. Based on theranking, the receiving component 610 can receive a second set of seekindex chunks, e.g., during streaming of a first segment of a video file.The second set of seek index chunks can be a subset of the availablesecond set of seek index chunks in the data store selected based on theranking.

In one implementation, streaming component 620, upon completion ofstreaming one of the video blocks among the first set of video blocks,can dynamically select a video block associated with the subset of thesecond set of seek index chunks as a function of the subset of thesecond set of seek index chunks and client capabilities.

In an implementation, ranking component 630 can rank seek index chunkswithin a third set of seek index chunks for relevance based on clientcapabilities. Receiving component 610 can receive during streaming thethird set of seek index chunks, or a subset thereof based on theranking. It can be appreciated that streaming component 620 can continueto dynamically select one of the video blocks among an Nth (N is aninteger) set of video blocks to stream.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is illustrated a high-level functionalblock diagram of an example system using chunked time-to-offset mappingin adaptive streaming including a monitoring component in accordancewith implementations of this disclosure. Monitoring component 710 candynamically monitor client capabilities such as client connection speed,usage associated with client memory 612, usage associated with clientprocessor(s) 614, and other resource monitors uniquely pertinent to theclient. Streaming component 620 can dynamically select to stream one ofthe video files, e.g., beginning at a new key frame, based on thedynamic monitoring. For example, if monitoring component 710 detects adrop in client capabilities (e.g., a drop in client connection speed),streaming component 630 can dynamically select a new file (e.g., a lowerbit rate video file) to stream, beginning at the next key frame, basedon the dynamic monitoring. As an alternate example, if monitoringcomponent 710 detects an increase in available processor(s) 614resources (e.g., because a separate previously open application on theclient device was closed), streaming component 620 can dynamicallyselect a new media file associated with the presentation (e.g., a higherquality video file) to stream beginning at the next key frame.

In one implementation, ranking component 630 can dynamically updateranks based on the dynamic monitoring. For example, if monitoringcomponent 710 detects a drop in client capabilities (e.g., a drop inclient connection speed) or an increase in available resources (e.g., aseparate previously open application on the client device is closed),ranking component 630 can dynamically update the ranks associated withseek index chunks. It can be appreciated that seek index chunks thatwere previously excluded may become included based on changing clientcapabilities.

In one implementation, receiving component 610 can dynamically alter thesubset of seek index chunks it receives from server 602 based on thedynamic update to ranks.

FIGS. 8-11 illustrate methods and/or flow diagrams in accordance withthis disclosure. For simplicity of explanation, the methods are depictedand described as a series of acts. However, acts in accordance with thisdisclosure can occur in various orders and/or concurrently, and withother acts not presented and described herein. Furthermore, not allillustrated acts may be required to implement the methods in accordancewith the disclosed subject matter. In addition, those skilled in the artwill understand and appreciate that the methods could alternatively berepresented as a series of interrelated states via a state diagram orevents. Additionally, it should be appreciated that the methodsdisclosed in this specification are capable of being stored on anarticle of manufacture to facilitate transporting and transferring suchmethods to computing devices. The term article of manufacture, as usedherein, is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device or storage media.

Moreover, various acts have been described in detail above in connectionwith respective system diagrams. It is to be appreciated that thedetailed description of such acts in the prior figures can be and areintended to be implementable in accordance with the following methods,as relevant. Furthermore, as used herein, video blocks can be frames ofa video file encoded with different video characteristics, e.g.,different bit rate, resolution, aspect ratio, width, height, and/orsample rate, etc. In one implementation, the video block is a chunk. Inone implementation, the chunk is determined using Group of Pictures(GOP) boundaries where each GOP begins with a key frame so as to have nodependencies on past or future GOPs.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example flow diagram method for using chunkedtime-to-offset mapping in adaptive streaming in accordance withimplementations of this disclosure. At 802, a first set of seek indexchunks associated with a first set of video blocks can be received(e.g., by a receiving component 610) wherein the video blocks areencoded with different video characteristics. At 804, one of the videoblocks among the first set of video blocks can be dynamically selected(e.g., by a streaming component 620) to stream as a function of thefirst set of seek index chunks and client capabilities.

At 806, seek index chunks within a second set of seek index chunks canbe ranked (e.g., by a ranking component 630) for relevance based onclient capabilities. At 808, a subset of the second set of seek indexchunks can be received (e.g., by a receiving component 610), e.g.,during streaming of the video block, based on the ranking.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example flow diagram method for using chunkedtime-to-offset mapping in adaptive streaming in accordance withimplementations of this disclosure. At 902, a first set of seek indexchunks associated with a first set of video blocks can be received(e.g., by a receiving component 610) wherein the video blocks areencoded with different video characteristics. At 904, one of the videoblocks among the first set of video blocks can be dynamically selected(e.g., by a streaming component 620) to stream as a function of thefirst set of seek index chunks and client capabilities.

At 906, seek index chunks within a second set of seek index chunks canbe ranked (e.g., by a ranking component 630) for relevance based onpreviously determined, current or updated client capabilities. At 908, asubset of the second set of seek index chunks can be received (e.g., bya receiving component 610), during streaming, based on the ranking. At910, upon completion of streaming one of the video blocks among thefirst set of video blocks, a video block associated with the subset ofthe second set of seek index chunks can be dynamically selected (e.g.,by a streaming component 620) to stream as a function of the subset ofthe second set of seek index chunks and client capabilities.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example flow diagram method for using chunkedtime-to-offset mapping in adaptive streaming including dynamicallymonitoring client capabilities in accordance with implementations ofthis disclosure. At 1002, a first set of seek index chunks associatedwith a first set of video blocks can be received (e.g., by a receivingcomponent 610) wherein the video blocks are encoded with different videocharacteristics. At 1004, client capabilities can be determined (e.g.,via dynamic monitoring by a monitoring component 710). At 1006, one ofthe video blocks among the first set of video blocks can be dynamicallyselected (e.g., by a streaming component 620) to stream as a function ofthe first set of seek index chunks and client capabilities.

At 1008, seek index chunks within a second set of seek index chunks canbe ranked (e.g., by a ranking component 630) for relevance based onclient capabilities. At 1010, a subset of the second set of seek indexchunks can be received (e.g., by a receiving component 610), duringstreaming, based on the ranking.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example flow diagram method for using chunkedtime-to-offset mapping in adaptive streaming including dynamicallyupdating ranks in accordance with implementations of this disclosure. At1102, a first set of seek index chunks associated with a first set ofvideo blocks can be received (e.g., by a receiving component 610)wherein the video blocks are encoded with different videocharacteristics. At 1104, client capabilities can be dynamicallymonitored (e.g., by a monitoring component 710). At 1106, one of thevideo blocks among the first set of video blocks can be dynamicallyselected (e.g., by a streaming component 620) to stream as a function ofthe first set of seek index chunks and client capabilities.

At 1108, seek index chunks within a second set of seek index chunks canbe ranked (e.g., by a ranking component 630) for relevance based onclient capabilities. At 1110, ranks can be dynamically updated (e.g., bya ranking component 630) based on the dynamic monitoring. At 1112, asubset of the second set of seek index chunks can be received (e.g., bya receiving component 610), during streaming, based on the dynamicallyupdated ranking.

Reference throughout this specification to “one implementation,” or “animplementation,” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the implementation isincluded in at least one implementation. Thus, the appearances of thephrase “in one implementation,” or “in an implementation,” in variousplaces throughout this specification can, but are not necessarily,referring to the same implementation, depending on the circumstances.Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more implementations.

To the extent that the terms “includes,” “including,” “has,” “contains,”variants thereof, and other similar words are used in either thedetailed description or the claims, these terms are intended to beinclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as an opentransition word without precluding any additional or other elements.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “module,” “system,”or the like are generally intended to refer to a computer-relatedentity, either hardware (e.g., a circuit), a combination of hardware andsoftware, or an entity related to an operational machine with one ormore specific functionalities. For example, a component may be, but isnot limited to being, a process running on a processor (e.g., digitalsignal processor), a processor, an object, an executable, a thread ofexecution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both anapplication running on a controller and the controller can be acomponent. One or more components may reside within a process and/orthread of execution and a component may be localized on one computerand/or distributed between two or more computers. Further, a “device”can come in the form of specially designed hardware; generalizedhardware made specialized by the execution of software thereon thatenables hardware to perform specific functions (e.g. generating interestpoints and/or descriptors); software on a computer readable medium; or acombination thereof.

The aforementioned systems, circuits, modules, and so on have beendescribed with respect to interaction between several components and/orblocks. It can be appreciated that such systems, circuits, components,blocks, and so forth can include those components or specifiedsub-components, some of the specified components or sub-components,and/or additional components, and according to various permutations andcombinations of the foregoing. Sub-components can also be implemented ascomponents communicatively coupled to other components rather thanincluded within parent components (hierarchical). Additionally, itshould be noted that one or more components may be combined into asingle component providing aggregate functionality or divided intoseveral separate sub-components, and any one or more middle layers, suchas a management layer, may be provided to communicatively couple to suchsub-components in order to provide integrated functionality. Anycomponents described herein may also interact with one or more othercomponents not specifically described herein but known by those of skillin the art.

Moreover, the words “example” or “exemplary” are used herein to meanserving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or designdescribed herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use ofthe words “example” or “exemplary” is intended to present concepts in aconcrete fashion. As used in this application, the term “or” is intendedto mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unlessspecified otherwise, or clear from context, “X employs A or B” isintended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, ifX employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs Aor B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition,the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appendedclaims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unlessspecified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singularform.

With reference to FIG. 12, a suitable environment 1200 for implementingvarious aspects of the claimed subject matter includes a computer 1202.The computer 1202 includes a processing unit 1204, a system memory 1206,a codec 1205, and a system bus 1208. The system bus 1208 couples systemcomponents including, but not limited to, the system memory 1206 to theprocessing unit 1204. The processing unit 1204 can be any of variousavailable processors. Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessorarchitectures also can be employed as the processing unit 1204. Thecodec 1205 can, depending on the context, encode and/or decode mediafiles, or segments thereof, associated with a presentation.

The system bus 1208 can be any of several types of bus structure(s)including the memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus orexternal bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available busarchitectures including, but not limited to, Industrial StandardArchitecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MSA), Extended ISA(EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB),Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Card Bus, Universal Serial Bus(USB), Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association bus (PCMCIA), Firewire (IEEE 1394), and SmallComputer Systems Interface (SCSI).

The system memory 1206 includes volatile memory 1210 and non-volatilememory 1212. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basicroutines to transfer information between elements within the computer1202, such as during start-up, is stored in non-volatile memory 1212. Byway of illustration, and not limitation, non-volatile memory 1212 caninclude read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electricallyprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory 1210 includes random accessmemory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. According to presentaspects, the volatile memory may store the write operation retry logic(not shown in FIG. 12) and the like. By way of illustration and notlimitation, RAM is available in many forms such as static RAM (SRAM),dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM(DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM).

Computer 1202 may also include removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer storage media. FIG. 12 illustrates, forexample, a disk storage 1214. Disk storage 1214 includes, but is notlimited to, devices like a magnetic disk drive, solid state disk (SSD)floppy disk drive, tape drive, Jaz drive, Zip drive, LS-100 drive, flashmemory card, or memory stick. In addition, disk storage 1214 can includestorage media separately or in combination with other storage mediaincluding, but not limited to, an optical disk drive such as a compactdisk ROM device (CD-ROM), CD recordable drive (CD-R Drive), CDrewritable drive (CD-RW Drive) or a digital versatile disk ROM drive(DVD-ROM). To facilitate connection of the disk storage devices 1214 tothe system bus 1208, a removable or non-removable interface is typicallyused, such as interface 1216.

It is to be appreciated that FIG. 12 describes software that acts as anintermediary between users and the basic computer resources described inthe suitable operating environment 1200. Such software includes anoperating system 1218. Operating system 1218, which can be stored ondisk storage 1214, acts to control and allocate resources of thecomputer system 1202. Applications 1220 take advantage of the managementof resources by operating system 1218 through program modules 1224, andprogram data 1226, such as the boot/shutdown transaction table and thelike, stored either in system memory 1206 or on disk storage 1214. It isto be appreciated that the claimed subject matter can be implementedwith various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

A user enters commands or information into the computer 1202 throughinput device(s) 1228. Input devices 1228 include, but are not limitedto, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad,keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TVtuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and thelike. These and other input devices connect to the processing unit 1204through the system bus 1208 via interface port(s) 1230. Interfaceport(s) 1230 include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, agame port, and a universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s) 1236 usesome of the same type of ports as input device(s) 1228. Thus, forexample, a USB port may be used to provide input to computer 1202 and tooutput information from computer 1202 to an output device 1236. Outputadapter 1234 is provided to illustrate that there are some outputdevices 1236 like monitors, speakers, and printers, among other outputdevices 1236, which require special adapters. The output adapters 1234include, by way of illustration and not limitation, video and soundcards that provide a means of connection between the output device 1236and the system bus 1208. It should be noted that other devices and/orsystems of devices provide both input and output capabilities such asremote computer(s) 1238.

Computer 1202 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)1238. The remote computer(s) 1238 can be a personal computer, a server,a router, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance,a peer device, a smart phone, a tablet, or other network node, andtypically includes many of the elements described relative to computer1202. For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 1240 isillustrated with remote computer(s) 1238. Remote computer(s) 1238 islogically connected to computer 1202 through a network interface 1242and then connected via communication connection(s) 1244. Networkinterface 1242 encompasses wire and/or wireless communication networkssuch as local-area networks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN) andcellular networks. LAN technologies include Fiber Distributed DataInterface (FDDI), Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet,Token Ring and the like. WAN technologies include, but are not limitedto, point-to-point links, circuit switching networks like IntegratedServices Digital Networks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packetswitching networks, and Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL).

Communication connection(s) 1244 refers to the hardware/softwareemployed to connect the network interface 1242 to the bus 1208. Whilecommunication connection 1244 is shown for illustrative clarity insidecomputer 1202, it can also be external to computer 1202. Thehardware/software necessary for connection to the network interface 1242includes, for exemplary purposes only, internal and externaltechnologies such as, modems including regular telephone grade modems,cable modems and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and wired and wirelessEthernet cards, hubs, and routers.

Referring now to FIG. 13, there is illustrated a schematic block diagramof a computing environment 1300 in accordance with the subjectspecification. The system 1300 includes one or more client(s) 1302,which can include an application or a system that accesses a service onthe server 1304. The client(s) 1302 can be hardware and/or software(e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The client(s) 1302 canhouse cookie(s), metadata, and/or associated contextual information byemploying the specification, for example.

The system 1300 also includes one or more server(s) 1304. The server(s)1304 can also be hardware or hardware in combination with software(e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The servers 1304 canhouse threads to perform, for example, sending a video manifest,monitoring client capabilities, breaking down seek indices into chunks,etc. in accordance with the subject disclosure. One possiblecommunication between a client 1302 and a server 1304 can be in the formof a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or more computerprocesses where the data packet contains, for example, portions of avideo stream. The data packet can include a cookie and/or associatedcontextual information, for example. The system 1300 includes acommunication framework 1306 (e.g., a global communication network suchas the Internet) that can be employed to facilitate communicationsbetween the client(s) 1302 and the server(s) 1304.

Communications can be facilitated via a wired (including optical fiber)and/or wireless technology. The client(s) 1302 are operatively connectedto one or more client data store(s) 1308 that can be employed to storeinformation local to the client(s) 1302 (e.g., cookie(s) and/orassociated contextual information). Similarly, the server(s) 1304 areoperatively connected to one or more server data store(s) 1310 that canbe employed to store information local to the servers 1304.

The illustrated aspects of the disclosure may also be practiced indistributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed byremote processing devices that are linked through a communicationsnetwork. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can belocated in both local and remote memory storage devices.

The systems and processes described above can be embodied withinhardware, such as a single integrated circuit (IC) chip, multiple ICs,an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or the like. Further,the order in which some or all of the process blocks appear in eachprocess should not be deemed limiting. Rather, it should be understoodthat some of the process blocks can be executed in a variety of ordersthat are not all of which may be explicitly illustrated herein.

What has been described above includes examples of the implementationsof the present invention. It is, of course, not possible to describeevery conceivable combination of components or methods for purposes ofdescribing the claimed subject matter, but many further combinations andpermutations of the subject innovation are possible. Accordingly, theclaimed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims. Moreover, the above description of illustratedimplementations of this disclosure, including what is described in theAbstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosedimplementations to the precise forms disclosed. While specificimplementations and examples are described herein for illustrativepurposes, various modifications are possible that are considered withinthe scope of such implementations and examples, as those skilled in therelevant art can recognize.

In particular and in regard to the various functions performed by theabove described components, devices, circuits, systems and the like, theterms used to describe such components are intended to correspond,unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs thespecified function of the described component (e.g., a functionalequivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosedstructure, which performs the function in the herein illustratedexemplary aspects of the claimed subject matter. In this regard, it willalso be recognized that the innovation includes a system as well as acomputer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructionsfor performing the acts and/or events of the various methods of theclaimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: transmitting a manifest to aclient, wherein the manifest identifies a presentation available forstreaming by the client, and wherein the manifest comprises: a pluralityof media elements identifying media files, wherein each media file is adifferent audio or video version of the presentation; a media indexelement for each media element, wherein the media index element containsinformation about a seek index associated with the identified mediafile; and a plurality of seek index chunk elements for each media indexelement, wherein the plurality of seek index chunk elements for eachmedia index element identifies chunks of the corresponding seek index.2. The method of claim 1, wherein each media index element comprises afirst seek index chunk element associated with a first seek index chunkand a second seek index chunk element associated with a second seekindex chunk, and the method further comprises: transmitting the firstseek index chunk for all media index elements in the manifest beforetransmitting a second seek index chunk for any of the media indexelements.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein each media index elementcomprises a first seek index chunk element associated with a first seekindex chunk and a second seek index chunk element associated with asecond seek index chunk, and the method further comprises: transmittingthe first seek index chunk for all media index elements in the manifest;receiving a request from the client to transmit a subset of the secondseek index chunk elements; and transmitting the subset of the secondseek index chunk elements.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein each mediaindex element comprises a first seek index chunk element associated witha first seek index chunk and a second seek index chunk elementassociated with a second seek index chunk, and the method furthercomprises: transmitting the first seek index chunk for all media indexelements in the manifest; receiving a request for a first segment of amedia file; transmitting a subset of the second seek index chunkelements; and transmitting the subset of the second seek index chunkelements while transmitting the first segment of the media file.
 5. Amethod comprising: requesting a presentation for streaming; receiving amanifest associated with the presentation, wherein the manifestcomprises: a plurality of media elements identifying media files,wherein each media file is a different audio or video version of thepresentation; a media index element for each media element, wherein themedia index element contains information about a seek index associatedwith the identified media file; and a plurality of seek index chunkelements for each media index element, wherein the plurality of seekindex chunk elements for each media index element identifies chunks ofthe corresponding seek index.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein eachmedia index element comprises a first seek index chunk elementassociated with a first seek index chunk and a second seek index chunkelement associated with a second seek index chunk, and the methodfurther comprises: receiving the first seek index chunk for all mediaindex elements in the manifest before receiving a second seek indexchunk for any of the media index elements.
 7. The method of claim 5,wherein each media index element comprises a first seek index chunkelement associated with a first seek index chunk and a second seek indexchunk element associated with a second seek index chunk, and the methodfurther comprises: receiving the first seek index chunk for all mediaindex elements in the manifest; requesting a subset of the second seekindex chunk elements; and receiving the subset of the second seek indexchunk elements.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein each media indexelement comprises a first seek index chunk element associated with afirst seek index chunk and a second seek index chunk element associatedwith a second seek index chunk, and the method further comprises:receiving the first seek index chunk for all media index elements in themanifest; requesting a first segment of a media file based on the firstseek index chunks; requesting a subset of the second seek index chunkelements; and receiving the subset of the second seek index chunkelements while receiving the first segment of the media file.